10 Estonian schools and kindergartens participates in Waste Audit training

On the 26^th of March 16 teachers from 10 different schools and kindergartens participated in the waste audit training in Viljandi, Estonia.

To minimize the amount of produced waste, the audit is one of the first steps to take – it gives an idea where to begin the reduction process, for example, sorting what type of reuse and recycling to implement or what type of waste to reduce.  Waste audit is a globally used approach for the evaluation of waste produced in schools and universities, municipal agencies, business enterprises, households etc., but it has not reached the education sector in Latvia and Estonia, yet. The WasteArt partners in cooperation with schools and kindergartens in Latvia and Estonia are dedicated to change it.

Currently, the partners have developed first draft of the waste audit toolkit to test during the teachers’ workshops. Involved schools and kindergartens will lead through five-day course of waste audit and according to the results evolve a set of activities aiming at raising awareness, reducing the amount of waste produced in schools and kindergartens, as well as getting a better sorting system and sorting results.

During the training in Estonia, teachers learned by analyzing waste from Jakobson’s School, where the training took place. The conclusions from the training were that sorting of paper would reduce the amount of unsorted waste significantly. Moreover, the waste audit seems feasible, since there are paper sorting containers in schools. Sorting of biodegradables in certain places of the school would give an even higher effect, but unfortunately the Viljandi town lacks of contract for disposal of biodegradable waste. 

“Reuse of Waste through Arts and Crafts” (WasteArt) No. Est-Lat 65, is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Interreg V-A Estonia – Latvia Cross-Border Programme and co-funded by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia (VARAM) and project partners.

This article reflects the views of the author. The managing authority of the Interreg V-A Estonia – Latvia programme is not liable for how this information may be used.

Find more about the WasteArt project here.